


too late a night

by AlexSeanchai



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, Identity Reveal, Inspired by Fanart, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Matchmaker Nora Césaire, Protective Nora Césaire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27123451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSeanchai/pseuds/AlexSeanchai
Summary: They both knew they'd see each other unmasked if they fell asleep where they were—they and all of Paris would see.These heroes are Nora's sister's age. Someone's gotta watch their backs.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 8
Kudos: 107
Collections: Good Intentions: Abandoned and Unfinished WIPs





	too late a night

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [they fought an akuma for 5 hours and sat down for 1 second](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/703453) by ladybeug. 



> Another outline thing that never got farther than this. Directly follows the linked art.  
> 
> 
> Image description of ladybeug's one-panel comic: Ladybug is curled up leaning on Chat Noir, who is sitting with his legs on either side of her and leaning on her himself; they are both half asleep. Dialogue as follows:
> 
> CN: …  
> LB: … we gotta get up  
> CN: ugh yeah  
> LB: …  
> CN: …  
> LB: god I'm so tired  
> CN: we're gonna detransform  
> LB: I don't know if I even care anymore

okay so they do in fact fall asleep there. and they wake up in the Césaire apartment because Nora found them before their transformations dropped and couldn't wake them and figured on that being the safest place to put them (she'd just barricade the bedroom door against her sisters).

and at some point while they were sleeping there, possibly in Nora's bed (either because both of them registered sleepy protests to attempting to separate them into Ella's and Etta's beds or because the only bed in the apartment that's actually long enough for Chat Noir is Nora's), both transformations dropped.

Nora did not _plan_ to learn their identities and understands they would both rather she hadn't, she explains once they're both awake (under the cover of music a little too loud to please the neighbors), but she was clearly right to assume they'd be safest in private, since if they'd lost their masks out in the open, the whole city might know by now—she may go on a little longer than that, or stop a little sooner, but regardless she stops because she can see they're both looking miserable and not at each other. "—you didn't know, did you?"

and at some recent point, post-"Puppeteer 2", Alya asked Nora for advice on the Adrienette situation, since Adrien doesn't know what he did to upset Marinette and Marinette hasn't told Alya and is avoiding Adrien. so Nora works through it like "Adrien is Chat Noir." He nods. "Chat Noir loves Ladybug." They nod. "Ladybug is Marinette." She nods. "What's the problem?"

"She's in love with someone else," says Adrien, in sync with Marinette's "He's in love with someone else."

Nora is well aware of Alya's campaign to make sure Adrien finds out about Marinette's crush _from Marinette_ , which she isn't sure she agrees with but it seems like trashing that plan should not be Nora's first choice, so Nora repeats, "Chat Noir loves Ladybug."

"Adrien told me the girl he loves doesn't like his jokes either," says Marinette, determinedly not looking at Adrien. " _That_ one sucked, but the rest—he can't mean me. Kagami, maybe? I don't know. I hope not—I _like_ Kagami—but whoever it is, she's not _good_ enough for him."

"You sound a little possessive," says Nora, watching Adrien be confused.

"Protective," corrects Marinette. "How will he be happy with someone who doesn't like his _jokes_?"

"…You don't, though," says Adrien, and Marinette grabs a pillow to scream into. "Not that it matters what I want," Adrien continues. "Who is it, anyway? Luka?"

"What does Luka have to do with anything?"

Screw Alya's plan, thinks Nora. "Marinette, does he really not know?"

"Not that I know of," Marinette mumbles. "Not for lack of trying…"

somehow this gets to Nora telling Adrien to sit over there and pretend he isn't here, while Marinette sits over here where she can't see him and tells her big sister all about it.

and five stories later it finally gets through Adrien's head.

so they'd like to talk about it in private, but Nora can't get out without letting sisters in, so Nora opens the door a crack to send a twin for cheese and pastries as requested, and a few moments later Ladybug and Chat Noir can leave the bedroom. Nora's talking about getting them breakfast, but Alya, Ella, and Etta are not the only people there. dunno who else from the class, if anyone, but definitely Nino and Lila.

Ladybug blows a fuse.

when Lila has made her escape, reputation in shreds—or possibly before Lila actually gets away, so she's _listening_ , but certainly after Alya and Chat Noir both know Ladybug knows Lila threatened Marinette, and also after Alya knows Ladybug and Chat Noir keep an ear to the grapevine in that classroom in hopes at least one of them will know about any Situations that might arise, precisely because Situations in that class end in akumas more often than Situations anywhere else do—Chat Noir says to Ladybug, "You know, the tradition among my people, when a handsome tom wants to court a beautiful molly, is he hunts her down some presents. Dead birds, dead mice—" He grins, but his tone is clearly controlled anger. "How do you feel about dead chameleons?"

"What happened to 'making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy'?"

"Oh, that went out the window when she was keeping me from helping you with Oni-chan. It would have sooner, except I didn't hear the bit where she threatened Marinette. It definitely makes more sense of the bits where Marinette's spending a lot less time with her friends. I thought she was just overworking herself and she wasn't any more likely akuma bait than usual, but now I'm thinking Lila's been isolating her and I'm surprised she hasn't been bit yet." He pauses. "Especially since rumor has it the boy she's in love with broke her heart without knowing he was holding it. Somebody should go hit him over the head with that; I know how important she is to him."

"—I want a word with you," says Ladybug, and drags Chat out the nearest window, and the _moment_ she's confident they're unobserved, she kisses him senseless.

cut to school. word's gotten around about what Ladybug and Chat Noir said about Lila, and Alya has talked to Marinette and Nino has talked to Adrien, and there is a sweet apology and asking-out scene, in which possibly both Marinette and Adrien have planned a thing and those things collide. also now Nora is a valued confidante of both of theirs and may be getting a Miraculous?

**Author's Note:**

> [My comment policy](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/post/612627045048008704/as-a-fic-writer-i-need-every-reader-to-know): tl;dr happy comments make me happy. So do thinky comments, of course, but there exist jerks who think only thinky comments are worth anyone leaving.
> 
> Find me on [Dreamwidth](https://alexseanchai.dreamwidth.org/) and [Tumblr](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/).


End file.
